Wrinkles and Diapers
by UsagiGoRawr
Summary: Letha Smith was living a small life on a small island, or at least she was supposed to be. Well that plan was shot, and all because of two pirates named Jewelry Bonney and Trafalgar Law. Yeah, thanks a lot guys. ...Can you turn me back to normal now, Bonney? And uh- could I... have my heart back Law? Based on Howl's Moving Castle. Law/OC
1. Introductions Anyone?

**I was bored when a sudden idea hit me in the face and I just couldn't resist it. To the readers of my other fanfiction story ****_Finding You Again_****, I'm sorry. This was an idea for a story I just couldn't pass up. I probably won't be writing much for that story, not that I was really on top of putting out chapters anyways. But well, whatever! Hear hear for writing and good fun!**

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**Letha Smith was living a small life on a small island, or at least she was supposed to be. Well that plan was shot, and all because of a pirate named Jewelry Bonney. Yeah, thanks Bonney. ...Can you turn me back to normal now? Based on Howl's Moving Castle.**

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_Introductions Anyone?_

The name Letha means forgettable. I would know, I looked it up. Combined with the last name Smith... well, that just defines my existence doesn't it? That's my name: Letha Smith, and it suits me-a forgettable person- perfectly. Except for the smithy part. I'm not a smith or anything like that- but I am a florist. I take care of my family's flower shop on the small island of Primavera, located somewhere in the Grand Line.

You see, my life is already planned out. Being the oldest child of three, I am to inherit the flower shop. At a young age, I was already brainwashed into thinking "I'm the next shop owner whether I like it or not." Any other dreams I may have had would've been quickly stepped on and sprayed with weed killer, so I learned that there wasn't any point in day dreaming of what could be, and I didn't mind it at all. At the age of six, I was trained to run the flower shop. At the age of twelve, I was informed about my future husband, whom I will marry at the exact age of twenty-one. At the age of eighteen, my siblings left to seek their fortunes. And finally, at the age of twenty, I was put in charge of the flower shop for what would be the rest of my life.

As you can see, the person called Letha Smith is incredibly boring and forgettable. Very few people can remember me. I don't even bother saying hello to people I know. Rude? Well, they usually just pass right by me anyways and I'd end up only greeting air. People don't remember me, that's just a fact.

So why the long monologue you may ask, and I'll tell you why.

I, Letha Smith, messed up real bad; and it all started with a devil fruit or two. How bad? Well, bad enough to be forced on a journey to find an evil witch and suffer the whims of a polar bear loving pirate. Just...great.


	2. Chapter 1: Oops?

**And here is the first official chapter for Wrinkles and Diapers! :D**

**I don't guarantee that it'd be this long for all chapters, and dear lord the chapters will NEVER be published on time. Hah!  
**

**Thank you to_ madidoodlekins, Swaben, RunAway Rose, Oxenstierna D. Yuki-Rin, WritingQueen14, akagami hime chan _for your encouraging reviews! This chapter is for you wonderful people. :D  
**

**If you have never read the book or watched the movie Howl's Moving Castle, well, go read and watch it. I swear, it's worth it.  
**

**If you have read/watched Howl's Moving Castle, you'll pretty much know what's coming. But let's keep those secrets eh? Of course, as I said, my story is just BASED on the plot line. There will only be a few elements from the book that I base my story off on, but I thought I'd just point out the similarities anyways.  
**

**Disclaimer: One Piece and Howl's Moving Castle is not mine. :[  
**

**BY THE WAY, if you haven't already noticed... Law/OC, this is an OC story so if you don't like OCs, don't read.  
**

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**Chapter 1: ...Oops?**

Somewhere in the Grand Line, on a relatively small island called Primavera, in a world where pirates and marines are constantly at each others' throats... a young woman of twenty-years-old sighed heavily. You would think that such a young woman as this, one that is already an independent working woman, the owner of a well-to-do florist shop, _and_ about to be married, would have no such worries in her life at all.

Well, you haven't met this woman named Letha Smith.

Letha sighed once again as she pulled on her gardening gloves and settled down to repot the daffodils in the garden behind her shop. She busied herself with making small trenches to line the yellow flowers in, working steadily at a turtle-like pace. A small ticking sound could be heard coming from Letha's store. She constantly looked over her shoulder with a wary glance at the clock in her shop, which she could see through the glass window. The hands on the clock read 11:47 in the morning. Almost noon.

Letha wiped her forehead with an arm, shading her gray-blue eyes from the glaring sun centered in the bright cobalt sky and once again, sighed. She realized with the utmost reluctance that there was no use in putting the deed off. She pulled herself off the ground, dusted herself off, tucked her muddy gloves in her back pocket, and -sigh- settled to be a waitress for a day.

It was a favor for her aunt that was negotiated by her own traitorous mother.

She knew that Letha hated being ordered to do something she didn't want to do. Yet, _still_.

Her mother had insisted and said "Letha, dear, go and help your aunt in her restaurant this weekend at twelve p.m. sharp until she doesn't need you to waitress for her anymore that day. Your father and I will be taking a vacation so you'll be alone for the whole week. It'll be just as well to have your aunt take care of you." Then with a peck on the cheek and an affectionate pinch on the other, her parents waved goodbye to her with a silk napkin on a cruise boat that was already speeding away towards Water 7, which was paid for by her loving aunt who was in need of a slave for the weekend.

My own mother is a traitor, Letha thought viciously as she cleaned herself up and left the shop.

Her shop was located on top of a seaside hill that was only a little ways from town. To any person traveling on the seas to dock at Primavera, they could easily see the flower shop on top of the hill, only slightly hidden behind clusters of live oak trees that protected the gardens of flowers Letha grew from the harmful sea breeze.

Letha made sure that the sign on the door read 'Closed' before leaving for her aunt's restaurant on the other side of town. She walked down the lane of her shop mumbling to herself irritably "I'm a florist, not a waitress!", passing by several strange people in white boiler suits. A man wearing a white furry hat with black spots glanced at her from the corner of his dark shadowed eyes. Letha didn't notice. Instead, she thought about how absolutely wronged she felt as she continued walking past them. The injustice!

Yeah, independent my butt. Letha snorted. She was the new owner of her family's shop, Smithy's Florist. She was already twenty-years-old. She was getting _married_ in a year. Where does her mother get off treating her like a child?

I should just go back to the shop and open up for the day, Letha thought with determination, I wasn't the one who agreed to this! I should just turn around right now and open shop! That's right, I'll just-

Her feet kept walking straight across town, making some turns left and right, passing by people that paid no attention to the young woman with dark brown hair who was having an internalized conflict in her jumbled mind. She passed by several people she didn't know and some she did, but didn't bother to say any hellos. She passed by bushes of pink oleanders that decorated the side of town facing the blue sea. For a brief moment, there was a view of the wide harbor filled with several ships. Two of the more stranger ships sporting black flags.

Letha sighed resignedly and continued through town until she reached the town's main square. It was a simple square plaza made of paved stones and white faced buildings with trimmings of cheerful colors that deeply contrasted Letha's mood for the day.

If only I didn't eat that fruit. She thought miserably, but shook herself out of it when she recognized her aunt's place. She had been there yesterday to do the same dirty deed she would have to do today and was familiar enough with the job to hate it. All those customers she would have to talk to and take orders from…. Letha shuddered.

The restaurant was quite large and very picturesque with it's large clear windows and cafe-like setting. There were some small round tables set outside the building, each topped with green umbrellas to shelter the people sipping tea. Flower's lined the green window sills (courtesy of her flower shop), and the restaurant appeared to be very busy with customers. Customers that were quickly fleeing that is.

However, Letha paid no mind to the strange behavior of the people and charged right into the restaurant eager to get the evil job over with.

They needed a waitress again? Well here she is, Letha thought crossly. Ready and unwilling.

She pushed past the people with only a slight annoyance, muttering excuse me and pardon me, and wondered briefly why everyone was in such a rush to leave.

"Lettie! Thank god you're here." A very distressed-looking woman, Letha's aunt, exclaimed running up to her. She was a large bulging woman that greatly contrasted to Letha's slim and prim-looking mother. "Quick, put on this apron, and go attend to that customer over there. Table 5. Hurry Letha!" Letha did as she was told quickly and was resigned to a horrible day of waitressing.

All I have to do is make it through today. Letha thought with a twinge of optimism, I'm sure it won't be that bad.

Oh, how terribly wrong Letha was.

Letha turned around and quickly scanned the restaurant for table 5. Her eyes glazing past the empty white tables, thinking nothing of the dwindling noise of fleeing customers, and spotted a very eye-catching and loud customer.

The only customer.

For a moment Letha stared at the odd pink-haired customer surrounded by plates of food. She was wearing a green Furażerka and had an anti-eyebrow piercing below her right eye. She was also wearing revealing and out of the ordinary clothes such as an extra small white T-shirt that revealed a thin stomach and huge cleavage, super short orange and brown striped…shorts, and flowery patterned and white ruffled leggings that ended just above the knee- clothes Letha would never be caught dead in. They were just so eye catching and different. Definitely not normal, and someone that couldn't be forgotten easily. The woman was, despite the food smeared on her face, very pretty also. For a short moment, Letha admired how well she could pull off that outfit.

She looks awfully familiar... Letha thought.

The pretty 'lady' had her feet propped on the table, and she was eating with both hands and chewing with loud crunches and an open cherry-chapped mouth. The people that Letha assumed were the woman's companions were busy clearing away the plates and putting new ones filled with food in front of the pink-haired customer.

"Where's my pizza?" The customer demanded, spitting out pieces of food. Letha winced at her manners. She was reluctant to talk to the most definitely weird person that was probably also bossy. She glanced behind her to look at her aunt with pleading eyes that said 'Please don't make me do this.'

Her aunt made a frantic shooing motion, which sent ripples along her bulbous body, that made it clear that she wasn't going to let Letha back out of this.

Wonderful, just toss me into the waters. Letha thought with an exasperated sigh. She turned back around to see the pink-haired woman throw a bottle of wine at the wall across from her, making a loud crashing noise and staining the pea-green walls of the restaurant.

Behind her, Letha could hear the loud thud of her aunt fainting at the sight of her beloved walls ruined.

_Uh oh_. Letha gulped. The lady was bizarre _and_ violent. H-How hard could this be? Letha thought nervously. Just get in there and get their order.

She watched the big burly men moving dishes out of the way for the ill-mannered woman, who was chomping on a huge buttered biscuit in her hand and holding a large piece of meat in the other. Suddenly Letha's eyes widened with astonishment when she realized who those people in front of her were. She felt her legs wobble as the scaredy cat in her meowed for her to get away. Letha backed up a couple of spaces, clumsily tripping over her own feet. She fell with a hard flump on her butt and winced. The pirates paid no mind to the girl on the floor yet Letha's overactive imagination figured they were probably bidding their time like those creepy stalkers she once read about.

P-Pirates! Letha's mind screamed. Those are pirates! Her mind flashed red like an emergency danger signal. Her mouth opened to yell in fright "I'm just a florist, oh Roger, I'm not even supposed to be here! I'm just a forgettable florist!" but all that came out was a jumbled mess of words.

Suddenly purple eyes swung over to glare at Letha on the floor.

"You! Are you a waitress?" The pirate captain demanded to know. Letha startled. She opened her mouth, and closed it. Then opened it again. "Y-Y-Yes, ma'am. My name's Letha."

Letha could've kicked herself. What kind of idiot gives her name to a dangerous person?

The pirate captain furrowed her eyebrows and scowled. "Letha? What kind of name is that." She chewed on her ravioli pasta and took a loud slurp of rum. Letha could've asked the same for her. What kind of name is Jewelry?

"Go get me my pizza!" Jewelry Bonney ordered loudly.

Letha cringed. It wasn't an _order_. But who was she kidding? She would follow that one either way. Letha clumsily got back up and dashed into the kitchen. She looked around frantically for pizza, any pizza!

…Where's the pizza?

The kitchen was empty of all cooks, and in fact, now that she realized, Letha was the only waitress in the restaurant. Boiling pots and frying pans were left on their stoves. Cabbages and onions left on their cutting boards half cut. Sinks left with the water still running.

_Slam. Slam. Slam. _

The back door was left flapping open.

Letha slowly moved to close the back door. She was all alone in the restaurant. The entire staff had run out on her. Her aunt was passed out! She was all alone, with impatient pirates waiting for their pizza. Pirates that knew her name... Forget that! Pirates that could kill her in a second! Who would run the flower shop if she was dead? Who would marry that Peter Willis? Who's going to plant those daffodils?

Letha swallowed hard. She took a peek in the ovens with nary a shred of hope.

No pizza.

She closed her eyes tightly.

I can still run, like the cooks. I can still save myself from whatever those pirates will do to me when I come out without their food. I should _run_.

Her legs stood rooted in its spot.

Letha face palmed.

The orders.

"_Letha, dear, go and help your aunt in her restaurant this weekend at twelve p.m. sharp until she doesn't need you to waitress for her anymore that day..." _Her mother had said.

_Damn. _

Her aunt still needed her. There was still a customer left. A pirate is still a customer.

_If only I didn't eat that fruit._

Letha groaned loudly. She took a sweep of the kitchen with her eyes, looking for anything she could serve to the pirates.

_Onions? I don't think so. _

_Cabbage. Maybe? With a little hot sauce… nah_.

_Pots!_ Letha ran over to the pots on the stove to see if there was anything that would make a decent dish.

She opened the lid of a boiling pot and saw a milky thick soup.

She could serve the clam chowder!

Letha quickly poured some into a bowl. She took the large soup bowl in hand carefully and weaved her way through the kitchen to the door that led to the restaurant.

_Careful, careful. It's hot. _

Letha pushed the door open with her behind and slowly walked towards where the Bonney pirates were. She kept her eyes on the hot soup, glancing up occasionally to see where she was going.

She'd tell them the cooks ran off. She'd tell them there was no more pizza, the supplies ran out. Yeah. She'd tell them there was clam chowder though, and the meal was on the house! That outta get her out of any trouble with that pirate Big Eater Jewelry Bonney. Letha nodded to herself grimly. She just had to get to that table…

Letha took slow, careful steps. Her hands burned from the contact with the hot bowl of clam chowder. It was just so hot! But she persevered. What were blistered palms compared to what those pirates could do to her? They could kidnap her, or they could sell her as a slave. They could do a number of things! She shuddered.

Letha glanced up to see where she was- only a couple feet away! Bonney's crew turned to see Letha making her way to them as she opened her mouth to say "The cooks-" and in that couple of seconds where she looked up to see where she was going and opened her mouth, her feet decided to wrestle one another for dominance.

"Waaghh-"

A look of pure horror crossed Letha's face, as well as every single one of Bonney's crew, as they watched the bowl of hot soup fly into the air in slow-mo. Letha had a vague sense of being suspended in air for fractions of a second that seemed much longer as she watched the bowl sail through the air with it's scorching contents towards an unsuspecting pink-haired glutton, who was chomping on a piece of butter-fried chicken and wondering where her pizza was.

Jewelry Bonney turned her head around slightly with her teeth tearing at the chicken meat. The impatient scowl on her face morphed into one of terror and her eyes widened in alarm when she spotted the flying bowl of soup headed straight for her.

In that moment Bonney was left with a terrifying decision of dodging and possibly dropping her chicken leg or getting hit with a burning liquid of clams and potatoes. Her crew was frozen in shock and had barely registered that they could-possibly-maybe-should step in front of their captain to protect her from enemies such as flying hot soup. Letha on the other hand was watching her uneventful life flash by with the words "Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap," repeating in her mind like a broken record.

Then, before Bonney could make her possible life-saving decision, and before her pirate crew could react in the way that would save their captain from clams and potatoes, and just as gravity hit Letha, the contents of the soup bowl splashed Bonney square in the face with the bowl landing neatly on her head somewhat like a ring toss.

Letha landed on the floor painfully with a thud.

The Bonney pirates gasped in absolute horror.

Jewelry Bonney herself gritted her teeth, the soup dripping through her hair, and her face red from the hot liquid and her blazing anger. She slowly removed the bowl from her head. The bowl cracked in half from her grip.

Letha swiftly looked up from her face-plant on the floor in dismay and locked her gray-blue eyes on Jewelry Bonney's enraged purple ones.

A couple seconds ticked by as Letha thought of anything she might possibly say to save her life.

"…Oops?"

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**To those of you that don't know.**

**Primavera means spring in Spanish.**

**Also, all flowers and plants have their own meanings. For instance...  
**

**Daffodils have several meanings such as joy, happiness (if several) or misery (if single), as well as rebirth, eternal life and regard. But the one I want you to focus on is the daffodil meaning 'new beginnings.'**

**Oleanders have the meaning 'caution and beware.' I think we can guess what Letha should be wary about. Also, to those of you who live near oleanders (which are often used for decoration on highways and blah) these can be poisonous.  
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**As mentioned before, Letha means forgettable, or even forgetful. It's derived from the river Lethe in Greek mythology. And... blah, too lazy.  
**


	3. Chapter 2: All's Mum

**Yeah I know, I suck. I won't even began to try and make excuses for my lateness since they won't matter. My teachers tell me that by the way. And yes, I get in trouble a lot for being late to school. LOL, not that I ever learn. Old habits die hard. **

**Plus, I'm one lazy bastard. There, I said it. I'm the laziest person I know. And I'm not being conceited. Just honest. And a tad conceited. It's not a pride thing I assure you. ;)  
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**But anyways, here you go, another chapter for you lovelies that have been looking forward to my story. So sorry for the delay. As I said, I was being lazy.  
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**Please be patient with me, even if it takes me a life time I intend to finish what I started. So have no fear! My stories shall be completed! And I don't mind taking a long time to do it too! Unfortunately for you readers. D: But I digress. Enjoy!  
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**Disclaimer: One Piece is Oda's and blaah blah blah.  
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Everyone has heard of those stories. You know, the ones about the people in life threatening situations. The ones where people suddenly gain super strength, incredible speed, or even massive brain power to get themselves out of danger. Yeah, _those_ stories. The ones about people who suddenly discover they have magical and amazing powers that have been laying dormant inside them ever since they were born, ready to come out whenever they were about to get crushed by a huge boulder or about to be run over by some kind of large moving thing.

Yeah. Letha Smith wasn't one of those people.

"…Oops?"

That was the best she could come up with as she lay on the floor in front of an infamous crew of pirates that were going to slaughter her. Namely, the supernova pirate that was about ready to throw down her chicken leg (and that's saying something) to kill a certain somebody.

That certain somebody was currently frozen stiff on the floor, her body aching from the gravity splat she made, and thinking vague things like "Maybe I should have said sorry instead" because she just saw the multitude of veins pop on Bonney's chowder soaked forehead. She didn't even have the mind to get up and run as fast as she could to save herself from the pirate captain.

Jewelry Bonney stood suddenly, the legs of her chair making an ominous scraping sound against the floor.

"Oops?" Bonney snarled. She sent the cracked soup bowl in her hand crashing into the wine-stained wall opposite her. Letha flinched from the sound. Behind the captain, the Bonney pirates jittered eagerly for what was coming. The pirate captain sent an angry glower over her shoulder, effectively silencing them. They cowered under her glare, remembering that they could have prevented their captain's unfortunate disaster. Bonney took several slow steps towards a cowering Letha. The hollow thumps of boots on wood echoed in the deathly silent restaurant.

Letha watched with wide eyes as the supernova's boots came closer and closer to her face. They stopped. Letha concentrated hard on the boots. She was too scared to look up to see the pink haired pirate's expression.

Maybe she'll forgive me. It was just an accident. A horribly unintentional accident that will be the end of me. …What if I paid for her meal? And dry cleaned her clothes? Heck I'll even shampoo her hair. I could get her an aloe vera mask for the burns! I have some plants in the garden…

Letha worked up the courage to look up…and she swiftly looked back down.

My, those boots are very interesting indeed.

She shut her eyes. That was one hell of an expression she had just seen. Not even her mother could pull off that look when her siblings have done their worst. There was one particular time in which her brother and sister had flooded the gardens in an attempt to create a canal to water the flower beds. Long story short, Mrs. Smith was one pissed lady.

However that was nothing compared to Jewelry Bonney's temper at the moment. She was a nimbus cloud heavy with thunder and hail. She was an inactive volcano seconds away from exploding. She was a 9.0 level earthquake ready to cause a red alert tsunami.

She was deadly and serious. She was going to freaking murder this waitress.

But no, Bonney thought hideously. Death would be too kind. That could come later.

She was going to make her regret ever spilling scalding clam chowder on her.

"Letha, wasn't it?" Bonney said in a dangerously low, calm voice. She knelt down and grabbed a fist full of Letha's hair, bringing the waitress' face up to meet her eyes. Letha gasped in pain. Her eyes fluttered open so she could see the barely contained anger in the supernova's eyes.

"I'm not going to kill you." She whispered into Letha's ear. "But I am going to make death come much, _much_ closer."

Letha didn't breathe, she knew what was coming. She heard a lot of stories about this pirate. Stories she didn't want to believe. Stories that shouldn't be true because devils fruits were just legends, but she knew better. Oh, Letha knew about devil fruits all right.

Letha shut her eyes again. The grimace of pain was still on her face.

This can't be happening to me. I'm supposed to be living a small life. I'm supposed to run the flower shop until I die. I'm supposed to marry that Peter Willis that runs the cabbage farm and sprout out babies that will continue the family business. This can't be happening to me!

Letha resisted the urge to break down in tears.

"Here's what I'm going to do to you _Letha_. I'm going to turn you into a crinkly old bat. Your hair will turn gray, your skin will be wrinkled, and your bones aching. You'll be a blubbering old fool. You'll be wishing to die after I'm through with you. And Letha, you can't even say a word about it." She chuckled mercilessly. No person she's ever turned old was able to do anything but stare around in confusion, much less complain about being turned old. This nobody girl would be no different. She wouldn't even be able to control her bladder system.

"It'll be such a shame. You have such beautiful hair."

Letha choked out tears. The Bonney Pirates roared with laughter at the waitress' sobs. Bonney allowed herself a wicked sneer. She broke the girl into tears and it made her feel a tad better about the soggy potatoes in her hair.

Letha sobbed heavily. Her head was aching from the pirate's grip on her hair. It felt like the roots of her hair was going to be pulled out before it could turn gray. She didn't usually burst into tears, but in this situation, anyone would cry when they knew they were going to lose decades off their short life. It wasn't fair. Her life just wasn't fair.

And I can't even tell anyone about it, Letha thought resentfully.

Then she blacked out.

_xxxxxxxxxx_

"Captain, the shop is closed," a white polar bear in an orange jumpsuit said. His beady black eyes stared at the 'Closed' sign as he pointed at it for his captain to see. His captain glanced at the small sign briefly.

"It would appear so Bepo." He merely said. He looked up under the furry rim of his spotted hat to read the shop's larger signboard: 'Smithy's Florist.'

"It doesn't look like there's anyone inside Captain." A man wearing a black hat labeled Penguin said, peering into the dark shop through the windows. "Do you think that woman we passed on the way was the owner?"

"Most likely." The captain replied tersely as he strolled around to the back of the shop. His crew clad in boiler suits followed. The pirate captain inspected the small garden. It was mostly filled with flowers, he didn't see any herbs that could be used for making medicine. There were half-planted daffodils, and bushes of burgundy and yellow roses, as well as a gathering of blue forget-me-nots.

And yet the bartender had said this was the place if he wanted special herbs.

He continued to inspect the garden as his crew became rowdy.

"That woman was pretty cute though, you think she digs pirates Shachi?" The penguin hat man asked.

Shachi snorted. "Maybe not you Penguin. I think she'd like a man that has more style. Like me." He grinned and raised his eyebrows suggestively, though it was obscured by his black sunglasses and casquette blue and red rimmed hat.

Penguin stared back at the casquette hatted man, his eyes covered by the shadow of his own black cap that had a yellow rim topped with a red pompom.

"Pfft, if she likes guys with _girl_ hair." Penguin replied back with a snicker. "Your hair is just utterly fabulous in length and shine."

The two pirates argued it out as they always did when it came to women and who came out on top as the preferred male.

"You're just jealous your hair ain't as luscious as mine!" Shachi said as Bepo came to stand before them.

"Do you think she has female polar bear friends?" Bepo asked.

"No, Bepo!" The pirates shouted at the same time, causing poor Bepo to retreat into a gloomy sulk in a corner of the garden.

The captain of the Heart Pirates ignored his crew as he walked around the shop again. There wasn't any other garden besides the one in the back, and it was pretty small for a florist's shop. He knew a flower shop would not be able to survive on a measly garden like that. He peered into the dark shop. There was only a counter and more pots of flowers as far as he could see.

So where were the rest of the gardens?

Trafalgar Law looked up at the store sign again. There was something about Smithy's Florist that struck him as odd. And when something puzzled Trafalgar Law, the pirate intended to get to the bottom of it.

"Captain! Are we going to wait for the woman to come back?" Bepo asked, having recovered from his bout.

A wry smile made it's way to the pirate captain's face.

Law looked back at the dark store. "No, we'll head back to the town first." They would be able to find the woman faster. Law decided it was worth the effort of finding the woman. He was low on supplies, and perhaps this woman would be able to help him acquire the herbs he needed to make new medicine.

He began walking back to town without a word to his crew. It wasn't necessary. His crew immediately trailed behind him without a single command uttered from Law's mouth. Such was the power of the respected captain of the Heart Pirates.

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**Quite frankly, I suck at writing. So I was writing fanfiction to practice getting better at it. I think I'm fairly okay at making up my own characters, but when it comes to other people's characters... I suck. So sorry if Law is OOC, I'm working on it. Part of the reason why this chapter was late was because I was trying to nail his character down first. And then I grew impatient and decided what the heck. I'll figure it out as I go. :[**

**Apparently...**

**Burgundy roses: ****Unconscious beauty**  


**Yellow roses: ****Joy, gladness, friendship, delight, _the promise of a new beginning_**  


**Forget-me-nots: Remembrance, true love  
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**Be sure to expect another late chapter, ahaha but reviews do make me write faster since I'd be under pressure to please my readers. :D  
**


	4. Chapter 3: Cone Sold Stober

**Oohh look at me. Another chapter in just a few days. I must be sick. Or maybe it was the shortness of the chapter. Maybe I should make chapters shorter for faster updates. Hmmm. Sounds like a plan.**

**Disclaimer: One Piece isn' t mine. Nor is Howl's Moving Castle.  
**

**Lalalalalala. I am in need of sleep! Ughh.  
**

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Letha Smith woke up to a slight prodding of her shoulders. She slowly opened her eyes to see a worried-looking blubbery woman kneeling over her, shaking her slightly by the shoulders.

"Madam? Madam are you all right?" The woman said to her, speaking loudly enough for Letha to have to wince.

She could barely remember the events that had led up to her waking up on the floor of her aunt's restaurant. Half planted daffodils. The customers fleeing. The Bonney Pirates. The clam chowder- oh Roger, not the clam chowder. The incredibly pissed pink-haired supernova. And now, the cold wooden floor of her aunt's restaurant. Speaking of which…

"Madam? Madam, can you hear me?" Her aunt was currently on the verge of panicking. When she had woken up the pirates had long since disappeared (without paying), her restaurant was silent and empty, and mother of Sea Kings her beautiful wall was stained with wine. She had to fight hard to resist the faint feeling that threatened to take her over again. And Letha- the young woman was gone. Auntie Wisteria was overcome with worry for her niece. Where is she? It wasn't like her to leave without telling her anything. Had the pirates taken her? Or worse, killed her and stuffed her body in the dumpster out back? Her sister would kill her if Letha was harmed. She'd stuff her mouth with so many different kinds of poisons herself. Wisteria could already imagine the look on Magnolia's face as she murdered her own sister. It would be terrifying.

Several scenarios flitted through her overactive imagination of a mind. She desperately wanted to find her niece and make sure she was fine, but just as she was about to race off to check the dumpster and quell her fears of _that_ scenario, she had spotted an old woman laying on the floor. Her heart stopped. The old woman was faced down on the ground, no sign of moving or breathing at all. Auntie Wisteria stood stone-still, afraid the woman was dead, until she saw the telltale signs of breathing. Her own panic had made her miss the rising and falling of the woman's back. Relieved, she had then tried to wake the woman up and make sure she was okay, and hopefully ask if she had seen her niece and knew what happened to her.

Letha was fully awake now. She was sitting in a chair her aunt had helped her into. She was also very aware of what had happened to her and what the situation was. Her aunt had been calling her "Madam" for a while now. She knew that Aunt Wisteria couldn't even recognize her then. Tears began to flow down her cheeks and drip onto her hands. Her wrinkled, gnarled hands. More tears fell. Beside her, Auntie Wisteria was stupefied by the old woman's tears. She had no idea what to do and began to fluster about with tissues.

Letha grabbed one and blew her nose into the material. She was full out sobbing now, crying into her hands, and when her gray hair fell around her she burst into more tears. The flabbergasted aunt had no idea what was going on anymore and she was literally inches away from fainting once again. However the sight of this old woman crying was too much for Auntie Wisteria, and it reminded her of how her Letha had cried when she found out about her arranged marriage. Wisteria sobered down now and patted the crying woman on her back. Then she burst into tears also and hugged the woman while bawling out her tears. The whole scene too much for her what with the pirates and the stained walls, Letha missing, and her eventual death by poison courtesy of her own sister.

Moments and several passing of tissues later, the women were seated in chairs around a table and downing glasses of strong alcohol. Because that was how women dealt with a situation like theirs in that day and age.

Auntie Wisteria was quite wasted. She drank several glasses of vodka, and had just slammed her fifth glass down. She hiccupped and slurred her words "My wallessh ssho purrddyy, -hic- then BOOM! Wine-sshtain. –hic– Wuunderful."

Beside her, Letha was only finishing her second small glass. She was never one for alcohol in times of despair, but this situation was different. Besides, she was a grown woman, unfortunately _too_ grown, and she needed a moment of _un_clarity to make herself feel better. She was being wise though, as the old woman she was now, and only drank as much as she could without risk of getting drunk.

"My Lllethaa –hic– don't know wheresh sshe goo! Poor –hic– Llethas. Lettie, Lettie, Lettie. Hope pirreshs didn't getter. Have to –hic– find sherr."

Letha turned to watch her aunt down her sixth glass and decided that was enough for the poor woman. She took the bottle of vodka away from her aunt's prying fingers.

"Auntie Wisteria, I'm right here. You don't have to find me." Her voice had a slightly lower pitch than usual, and Letha clasped her throat in surprise. She sounded different, _old_, and like a stranger. Aging had made the vocal cords in her larynx more weaker. She had heard that voices sound like they age when people grow old. It didn't stay the same. Something called presbyphonia. It was very unsettling. Letha didn't want to see what else had changed.

Auntie Wisteria slid to rest her chin on the table. "Lethaa? Shuu aren't Lettie. –hic– Who are shuu?"

"A pirate turned-" Letha's mouth shut firmly. She closed her eyes.

_"And Letha, you can't even say a word about it."_

She cursed, something that she rarely did. "Big Eat- Jewel- Bo-" Her mouth shut and opened. She couldn't even say the name of the damn witch. Her stomach churned and began hurting. "She made me-" Her mouth shut firmly again, the pain intensified and she clutched her stomach.

Letha slammed a fist on the table, startling her aunt, who then lay her head back down to rest her eyes. She couldn't say a thing! There was no way she could tell her aunt what happened to her. Any attempts to write the secret out would result in the same way. Her hand would freeze and she would automatically crumple the paper into a ball. The message was clear. There was no way she could communicate what that witch did to her. The intent of her order made it that way. The worst thing was the pirate didn't even realize what she had done. She had ordered Letha into silence.

She slammed her fist again, this time waking her aunt from her little nap. She just had to open her mouth and give the pirate her name. Bologna. This was utter bologna. And she was old! Who was going to marry an old woman? Peter Willis? As if.

Aunt Wisteria gazed at the angry old woman in a daze. She looked awfully familiar, and yet she was sure the woman was a stranger. Her head hurt a lot. She had too much to drink, and was definitely feeling "cone sold stober*," in other words: incredibly drunk. She watched the old woman quickly write something and leaving it beside her. She watched her get up and say something that sounded like a "I'll come see you tomorrow." However the old woman stopped just at the door of the restaurant, then came back and shook her aunt into focus.

"Auntie, I need you to do something for me."

"Huuhh? Whuh-"

"Can you repeat after me?"

Auntie Wisteria smiled. So they were playing a game then. She liked Simon Says.

"Shurree."

"Say, 'Letha, I don't need you to waitress anymore.'"

The aunt giggled profusely. "Shuu didn't shay Simon Shays! I wiinnn."

The old lady huffed. "Simon Says, say 'Letha, I don't need you to waitress anymore!'"

Auntie Wisteria tsked. "Lleethaa, I don't need shu to waitress anymores." She broke into giggles again. "Theree, my turnn!"

But Letha had already gone before her aunt could say anything that might be an order.

_xxxxxxxxxx_

It was dark. Night had already fallen. The lamp posts in town had been lighted and everyone was making their way home to burning fireplaces.

How long had she been passed out? Letha wondered as she walked through town in a relatively slow fashion. Being old had made her less energetic, not that she was before, but her body was more prone to being slow. Strangely that didn't bother her. In fact, it seemed as though she was a fairly healthy old lady. Her bones only ached in some places and in fact it was easier to take than the pain in her stomach when she tried to disobey an order. Letha nodded to herself. It was going to be okay. She'd be able to fix things, surely. She just had to be positive.

Positive. Optimistic. Happy.

She decided she'd finish planting the daffodils when she got back home. She'd simply turn the lights out back on and she could continue working in the garden. She continued walking down the cobblestone streets, passing by a crowd of people.

"Captain! We couldn't find her there either."

"She might not even be in town anymore."

Letha slowly passed by two men headed in the opposite direction of her.

"Should we head back to the store to see if she made it back there?"

Letha stopped to stretch out her back. Cracking her back made her spine tingle in a good way. She sighed in a satisfied way.

"No. We'll retire for today and come back in the morning." A low, cool voice said.

Letha froze. It brought shivers down her spine. She rubbed her arms, thinking the breeze must have made her cold. She turned around briefly, wondering who the group of people were looking for. She could barely make out the group. She squinted. There was a furry outline of a large bear looking person. In fact, if she squinted harder it would really be a bear. However she shook her head. She must have been really tired then. Perhaps she would skip the daffodil planting and just go straight to sleep. Letha shrugged and continued on her way back home.

Whoever they were looking for, it wasn't her problem.

* * *

**Woooo! Letha such a calm person. Or maybe she's in shock. Whatever. I can't wait to see what happens when she meets Law. **

**Anyone got anything they want to see happen in the story? Besides the obvious, Law's pure sexy awesomeness and Bepo's tragic self-confidence issues? No, I'm not fangirling. Yet. Teehee!**

**REVIEW please, it'd make the story so much more easier to navigate. And I do like encouragement, or maybe scolding. :D**

**Wisteria: Welcome, endurance in the face of heartache, humility, reflection, etc. Wisteria's have a long list of symbolism. **

**Magnolia:Nobility, Perseverance**

***"cone sold stober" - Something that Howl says to Sophie in the book, proclaiming he was not drunk and was indeed very "stober."**

**Lettie is the name of Sophie's sister. I actually had no intention of making this link in my story, it was a coinkydink! Wouldn't Lettie be a good nickname for Letha? Loll.  
**


	5. Chapter 4: Grits

**I was having a wonderful bowl of grits as I was writing this, and- Oh who am I kidding, that was the worst bowl of anything I had! Actually it wasn't too bad, I just had to keep pouring spoonfuls of sugar in as I ate. Unfortunately for me I had used too many cups of grits because I accidentally misread the measurements needed to make two servings of grits. I had read 1/2 cup of water and 1 1/2 cup of grits instead of the other way around. I was stuck with four servings after and was quite literally choking it down in order to finish it all. I used to think that only happened in anime, but... ah well. I'm still not done with the bowl even with posting this up.**_  
_

**Thank you to... Derp, Laboons-BellyButton, and Shima Namida. I would have taken twice as long to post this up if it weren't for your lovely reviews. :D This chapter is for you folks. **

**Laboons-BellyButton: You are right, I will clue you guys in because I don't like plot holes but if I happen to miss anything that seems as if I wasn't planning on coming back to it, remind me. ;] Bonney's one of my favorites too btw. And I have been keeping up with the chapters, thankies for the reference.  
**

******Shima Namida: I had read your review in the morning and finally decided to get off my lazy ass to post up a new one. Thank you very much for your encouragement and I do plan on getting back to Finding You Again later, just not now. Congratulations on being the review that made me get back to work! :D (See? Reviews do make me post faster.)**

**Disclaimer: One Piece isn't mine, geez. Jeez? I could never tell. ]:**

* * *

_The sound of delighted laughter floated along the sea breeze on the hilltop hidden by a forest of trees behind Smithy's Florist. Three children danced along the red poppy filled hilltop, tossing and turning, and occasionally tackling each other to the ground, still laughing. They were merciless in their play, pulling up flowers in clumps and throwing them at each other like snowballs. They played all sorts of games. _

_ One moment they were playing tag, or house, and the next they were calling "Off with yer head!" making chopping noises and imitating agonizing death cries. Now, they were playing something else that was somewhat related._

_ "Shiver me timbers! There's treasure afoot!" The youngest child called, swiping her hand in the air as if she had an iron hook on it._

_ The only boy among the siblings yelled, "Quickly now Paddywack. Shovel!"_

_ The oldest cocked her head to the side. "But I haven't got a shovel George."_

_ "I know not who this George is! I am CAPTAIN Hero!" He burst from the top of his lungs, then in a whisper, "Le- Paddywack, it's just play. Use your fingers!"_

_ Paddywack saluted. "Aye, aye Captain!" And she dug into the ground with her fingers and with the help of her little sister who then proclaimed with a shriek:_

_ "Treasure~! We've done it men, we've found One Piece! Arrgghh, proud day it is, proud day." She wiped a fake tear from her cheek with her imaginary hook, proceeding to smear dirt on her ruddy cheeks. "Look at this Paddywack, gold! We're rich!" Her eyes glittering at the slimy worms she shoved in her older sister's face._

_ Paddywack held a shaky smile. "A-Aye Pinkie, such lovely... gold. Why don't you show the Captain?"_

_Captain Hero had taken off his cap and held it to his heart. He rose his head to the clouds and gazed at the fading blue sky. "Men. Look at the horizon sky with me." The other two children stood with him and gazed with him into faraway places. They stood together at the top of the hill, peering over the treetops and at the line that separated the gray sky and dark ocean. They stood silent. A gust of sea breeze wafted through the trees making leaves rustle and the bright red poppies on the hilltop swell to the peak of their stems standing straight and tall._

_George murmured with bright shining eyes, "All our work. All our tears, sweat, and blood. We've done it. We've reached our dreams. Our One Piece." He turned to the others and roared. "Shout it at the world. What is your One Piece?"_

_Pinkie (or Peony) voiced, "Riches! As rich as the name I was given! I want to be as rich as can be!" She smiled happily at the the tiny stars that were beginning to appear._

_George nodded at his little sister. "And I want to be a hero, to save the world! He grinned at his two sisters and posed with an arm in the air and another at his hip. "Because I'm CAPTAIN Hero!" The siblings broke into peals of giggles. _

"_And you Letha? What do you want?" Peony asked. They looked at their older sister._

_She didn't hesitate._

"_To be a florist." She answered automatically, staring down at the red poppy in her small hands. "To take care of Smithy's Florist forever." _

_Her siblings glanced at each other with a knowing look. Far off in the distance, a voice was calling their names. _

"_No Letha," George had said. "What do you _really_ want to be?"_

_Letha looked startled. She raised her wide gray-blue eyes to her siblings earnest blue stares. Then she turned to the darkening horizon. _

"_...I want to be-"_

_A footfall on crushed leaves alerted the children and they turned towards the source of the noise._

"_Letha! Children! It's dark, get inside the house this instant!" Their mother scolded at the bottom of the hill. _

_The children looked at each other, and then George shrieked. "RUN! It's Admiral Dream Killer!" The children dashed in separate directions instantly, all laughing. George dashed towards town. Peony ran, tripping along into the forest heading towards the port. Letha giggled, running after them, but Mrs. Smith was already upon her. _

"_Letha, get inside the house _now_." _

_She froze, her giggles dying at her lips. Her traitorous feet turning her around to head back into the house, away from her sibling's fading footsteps, and try as she might she couldn't break free. She turned her head to look back at the dark ocean, but she couldn't see it because of the trees that blocked her sight. In the dark she could see her mother's outline watching her walk back to the flower shop._

_xxxxxxxxxx_

Letha blinked open her eyes. For a moment she simply stared at the beige ceiling of her room feeling the remnants of her dream. A memory of her distant childhood. It had been a while since she dreamed a memory. Really, it was the only kind of dream she had.

And then she remembered. She snapped out of her reminiscent daze and blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes. She slowly sat up, mindful of her age. She shuffled out of bed and stood before a tall mirror set in the corner of her room. She pulled the dusty cloth off the mirror and stared at the stranger reflecting back at her.

The stranger's shaky, leathery hand reached up to touch her face, ghosting over lines and creases, crinkles and folds.

That wasn't her face.

The stranger's eyes stared right back at her. Her soft, gray-blue eyes seemed dimmer than usual.

Those weren't her eyes.

And her once dark brown hair was now a stringy silver that ended mid back.

Definitely not hers.

She wrapped it up into a bun, wincing at the image she saw in the mirror. She looked even more... aged. However she tried to not let it bother her. There was a lot to do today. She had woken up before dawn and there was no point in going back to bed. There was a lot to be sorted out. She'd have to plant the daffodils. Pay a visit to Auntie Wisteria. Tend to the gardens. And... what else? She was sure there was something else. Ah, yes. Peter Willis. She was supposed to have a date with him today.

Suddenly she looked back at her reflection and gaped.

A date, in this? As this? She couldn't just strip off the old and revert back to the young. He wouldn't even be able to recognize her. Not that he usually did. She sort of had to announce herself for him so that he would even glance at her. Oh dear. This was trouble indeed.

Letha paced back and forth in front of the mirror. What was she going to do now? That damn pirate. A witch, that was what she was. A nasty witch. If this date didn't go well she worried about the wedding a year from now.

She stopped. The wedding!

Again, she gaped at her reflection in the mirror. Letha took a deep breath, and imagined with horror the image of an smiling, blushing, old lady walking down the aisle in a white wedding gown. At the end of the walk of terror would be the young, unsuspecting groom standing next to the eyebrow raised pastor. The groom would most likely be wishing he hadn't agreed to the arranged marriage.

Letha cringed. It would be painful for both sides. But there was nothing she could do about the wedding. She was going to get married one way or the other. And if she had to choose... she didn't want to be humiliated by being the pruney, blushing bride.

But... what was there she could do? What _can_ she do?

She'd think about it later, Letha decided. For now, she'd eat breakfast and then plant the daffodils. Letha headed downstairs and began making breakfast.

Sitting down at the kitchen table, she slowly ate her way through a bowlful of grits. Yes, grits. Somehow it felt fitting. She felt like grits today. Grits were perfect for such a wonderful morning. Grits. The agonizingly plain taste felt as if it suited her mood. She felt like... gritting. She chuckled to herself, and then realized she still had her teeth. She suddenly felt very good about herself.

Letha wondered what she would tell her aunt when she went to go visit. She wondered what she would do. Impersonate an old relative perhaps? Hopefully her aunt was too hungover to remember her old face.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Letha turned to face the front parlor, which was where the front register was since that was the business end of the house. She got up and headed out the kitchen towards the front. The knocking seemed to grow impatient, and Letha could hear a slight murmur from outside.

It was barely six. She hoped it wasn't Peter Willis. What would she possibly say?

"_I'm sorry Peter, but I was transformed into a wrinkly old prune by a nasty witch. If you won't mind still marrying me anyways..._"

She shuddered at the thought. Without bothering to look out the side window, she opened the door hesitantly...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

**AND BOOM! A FREAKING CHUPACABRA JUMPED ON HER AND- I'm just kidding, you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out. LOL gosh I'm evil. Don't worry I don't discriminate. I'm evil to everybody I love. :D ...does that count as discriminating? Oh well.**

**Peony: Symbolizes compassion, bashfulness, nobility, indignation, peace, beauty, blah blah blah. There's quite a lot.**

**George: As a name, it simply means farmer. **

**Paddywack: A random something that means spanking.**

**Grits: Plain white porridge made of corn. Apparently you can make cheese grits. I'm not willing to try but if you do please tell me how that goes. **


	6. Chapter 5: My Daffodils!

**EEARRRRTHHHHQUAKEE! -at the time I was writing this. I was wondering whether I should have ditched the house with my laptop or not. Then I asked myself whether 500 dollars was worth endangering my life. My answer: Hell yeah! Ain't leaving without my lifeline. :[ Screw you earthquake. Then I realized I totally forgot about my hamster. Ouch, that hurts my conscious. Sorry Spiderhamster!**

**Once again, thanks to these lovely reviewers:_ Liz, Demeter13909, Shima Namida, mimi._ This chapter is dedicated to you folks!**

**_Liz:_ _I thank you profusely! It makes me blush to hear that my writing has improved! And I do admit that Lori's head is a little scrambled and jumbled, you can blame it all on me since that was my first fanfiction story and I never really had much experience before that. Haha, I really liked the kid's pirate scene also, it was fun to write (and act out). :D And yes, Diana Jones' writing style does influence my writing. It's really very fun and light, you should definitely check it out. _**

**_Shima Namida: Your reviews keep me going! Really, everyone else should thank you that I even bother to update, that, or review more. LOL. You'll find your answer as to who is behind that door in this chapter! ;D_**

**_mimi: I look forward to that too! And Letha's unfortunate...condition will be explained as the story goes along. :] _**

**Disclaimer: One Piece is Mister Oda's property, which is protected by turrets of machine guns and crazy raving fans inflicted with rabbies. Like me. Teehee!**

* * *

Without bothering to look out the side window, Letha opened the door hesitantly... before swinging it open to see her guest. She blinked her eyes wide for a second, and without further ado... promptly fainted. Her eyes rolled up to the back of her head. Her legs wobbled with indecisive strength, and she collapsed in front of the doorway before anybody could ask "How do you do?"

Half a second later.

"Bepo! What the hell did you do to her?" Shachi proclaimed in shock, staring at the old lady that lay in a heap at the door.

"I _told_ you it was better if I did it." Penguin said, patting the gaping white polar bear on the back. "No offense Bepo, but even _I_ would want to faint if the first thing I see is you this early in the morning. It's not your fault." He shook his head pitying the bear.

Already a dark cloudy air was circling the poor bear as he stepped aside and apologized to his captain in a gormless sounding voice. "I'm sorry Captain! I killed her by accident. I didn't mean to." He lowered his head in shame.

Shachi and Penguin both facepalmed.

Law simply stepped past Bepo and proceeded to take the old woman's vitals. "She only fainted Bepo. That's one less death on your conscience." He turned to give his furry friend a faint smirk.

Bepo perked up immediately. "Ai!"

Law stood and ordered Shachi and Penguin to bring the old woman inside and settle her somewhere. They saluted and hefted the lady by the shoulders and legs to a couch they found in the living room. Bepo, holding Law's nodachi, was ordered to stand watch outside (for fear the frail lady would wake up only to faint again if she saw the polar bear), while the rest of the boiler suit clad crew lounged along the road in front of the flower shop.

Law stepped silently around the little room that was the front parlor, his dark shoes making hollow thumps on the wooden boards. His presence seemed to make the room smaller than usual. The pirate was certainly misplaced in the dainty parlor.

Law was surprised (yes, Law can be surprised) to find an old woman opening the door. He had been slightly sure that the woman they had passed by yesterday was the owner of the flower shop. He hadn't mentioned it to any of his crew, but he had seen the figure of the young woman standing at the cliff close to the shop when they had first sailed to the spring island in their submarine, which had ascended to open waters as they drew closer to Primavera. He watched the figure with interest, wondering whether she was planning to jump or not, and then she had turned and disappeared into the trees. However his curiosity wasn't really peaked until the market vendor had directed him to the flower shop on the cliff. He realized he made the quick assumption the girl he'd seen was the owner. And he was quite miffed to find he had done so, it wasn't a proper hypothesis made from cold hard facts and carefully planned experiments. He should have known better, as a doctor with the mind of a scientist.

His dark gray eyes swept across the black register on the counter in front of him, briefly over the spotless oak floors, over the few potted plants lining the beige walls, past the old grandfather clock that chimed 6 o'clock, and then lay to rest on a small picture frame that hung beside it.

He stepped closer to the photo and analyzed the picture for a second, his eyes flickering to one point of the picture while a dark glimmer shown in his eyes, before turning to explore a bit more of the house. Maybe his assumptions weren't so misplaced after all. It seemed as if there was no one else in the house beside the old woman that had fainted. There was also no sign of the dark haired young woman from yesterday. Perhaps she had only been a frequent customer that was turned away when she saw the 'Closed' sign as well. Or maybe, she was simply hiding in the quiet house.

Law adjusted his white, black-spotted fur hat and smiled a small one.

No matter, there was no escape from the 'Surgeon of Death.' He had to admit he was a little fond of the nickname the marines had given him. To show his appreciation, he had even gone as far as to live up to their expectations whenever he happened to meet any _fortunate_ marines in his path. The title suited him perfectly.

In the quiet room, with only the grandfather clock's pendulum making any noises, the pirate captain spotted some stairs that led to the second floor of the household. He strode over to the bottom of the stairs to peer up curiously, pondering whether it was possible that the rest of the gardens were somehow on the second floor of the shop. Just as he was about to go up to quell his curiosity, he spotted another set of stairs beside him that must have led down to the basement.

Law squinted into the dark stairway and was faced with even more curiosity as to what was behind that door at the bottom of the stairs. He could smell a faint touch of herbs, and quickly deduced if there was anywhere in the house that had any amount of plants, it would be the basement. Though he was doubtful about how that worked out.

However just when he changed his course to the basement, he heard a soft groan coming from the living room. He changed his mind once again and decided it was about time he met the owner of this strange little flower shop.

* * *

Letha found herself blinking open her eyes once again, yet to stare at the beige ceiling of her living room instead of her bedroom. She groaned softly, feeling slightly disorientated and definitely feeling the decidedly horrid aches in her back that she wished she could do without. Unfortunately for her, it came with the 'being old' package, so there was nothing she could do about it. Not really, at least.

Letha tried to recall what had happened that caused her to find herself laying in her living room sofa. She remembered walking to the door... and there was that incessant knocking. She opened the door. And then-

There was a giant stuffed polar bear in a freaking neon orange jumpsuit!

But that wasn't what made her blackout. No. It was- it was, oh Roger. The stuffed bear _tilted_ his head.

And in that second that Letha had looked into his beady black (admittedly adorable) eyes she realized with a sudden terror:

That was a real polar bear, not a stuffed animal. A polar bear. Wearing an orange jumpsuit. At her doorstep. She was going to be eaten before she could plant her daffodils. She was going to be breakfast for a... Roger knows _where_ that polar bear came from. She was going to die by polar bear, not old age. Polar bear! The audacity of the moment was too much for Letha's aged heart.

For the second time that week, her meager life had flashed before her eyes, but instead of 'Holy crap' running through her head, it was 'Polar bear, polar bear, polar bear. Polar bear!" And then she had passed out to be bear fodder.

...Except, she wasn't. She was alive. She was whole and she was alive and- lovely day, she had the chance to finish planting her daffodils.

Letha was up in a minute. She ignored the two men a yard away from her that was trying to get her to sit back down and protesting that she really should be resting. She didn't have time for that. She speeded off towards the kitchen to her right (and really if any law abiding officers had seen her they would have given her a ticket), which was connected to the living room as well as the front parlor, and went out the back door to the garden. Only dimly did she hear the men behind her arguing about whose fault it was, and then talking to someone else saying "The old coot suddenly just upped and left Captain. I think she hit herself on the head when she fainted."

But Letha had ignored them. She had daffodils to plant. And there was no way in Impel Down was she going to let some polar bear get in the way of her daffodils. No. She'd brandish her shovel if she had to. She'd go apeshit on that polar bear if she needed to. For now, Letha settled down at her garden and began planting her yellow daffodils bunch-by-bunch in the trenches.

She breathed out a relieved sigh as her hands automatically took over. _Finally._ The sight of her flowers made her feel much better, as if there wasn't a thing in the world she had to worry about. No polar bears. No devil fruit inducing curses. No Peter Willis. No mother. No nothing.

She patted the soil around the bundle of daffodils and moved on to the next patch. She could smell her roses, and briefly sought out the burgundy and yellow roses. Ahh, she could remember. She had tried to breed pink roses, but alas it had turned out burgundy. A much different color than the blush color she was going for. It was a shame, but she didn't have the heart to pull them out since she had taken so much care to grow them. Next to her roses, Letha smiled softly at her lovely, sky blue forget-me-nots. Her favorite type of flower. She had taken so much care to nurture them, taking comfort in its meaning. If only her name had meant remembrance instead of forgettable. Maybe then she would be noticed more often. Maybe then...

By the time she was done with her daydream, she had found she was already finished planting the daffodils. That was one more thing Letha could cross off her list. She cracked the joints in her shoulders and neck. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you done there, Madam?" A slightly familiar low, cool voice said then.

Letha stiffened, the serenity of the moment ruined, and she turned around sharply to look up at a tall, amused, stranger. Behind him, were the two men that she had seen shortly before she left to plant her daffodils. However she paid no mind to them, only on the stranger looking down on her crouched form.

He was slim, wearing a yellow hoodie with rolled up black sleeves as well as faded jeans spotted by... dirt? No, it was merely the design. He crossed his arms over his chest in an almost laid-back manner, showing tribal tattoos along his arms and the letters 'D. E. A. T. H.' were inked over the fingers of his left hands. It brought shivers down her spine.

The stranger wore a white fur hat, that had spots along the rim of his hat that matched with his jeans. He wore an easy smile on his face which sported a handsome goatee- and his eyes, his eyes were an unreadable gray that was faintly shadowed by the rim of his hat. Letha could make out darker shadows under his eyes.

For a short moment, Letha wondered where she heard his voice before, and then remembered that she came across it last night as she was walking home. This man was looking for somebody. And that somebody...?

The man made no comment, seemingly content to let her evaluate him. But Letha had already finished. She knew at the sight of him. He was a dangerous man.

If the grinning Jolly Roger on the front of his hoodie- only slightly obscured by his arms- wasn't enough to warn her, his eyes were. People with unreadable eyes were often to be weary of. She knew who he was, just as she knew who Jewelry Bonney was. The newspapers were there for a reason after all. This was the Grand Line, and pirates were no rare commodity.

She gulped then, breaking the silent trance she was in.

He was a pirate. Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law.

And he was standing in front of her, as if she was nothing more but a garden bug he could readily step on. Just like how Bonney did. That witch. Though it was her own fault she tripped and spilled clam ch- Nevermind. She had enough of pirates making her life harder than it was.

She narrowed her gray-blue eyes at the pirate, earning her an amused flicker in his eyes before it settled back to being indecipherable.

She stood up from her squatting position to face him dead on and with a look of defiance, said with an air of contempt "_Pirate_. What manner of business do you have here in my home?"

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**A/N: I never finished that bowl of grits. ]:**

**Gosh, the doc manager thing is pissing me off with it's disappearing dividing lines. If it seems like the perspective switch was a bit jarring, that probably means there was a dividing line that had disappeared because doc manager is a douche. Sorry!**

**Once again...**

******Daffodils have several meanings such as joy, happiness (if several) or misery (if single), as well as rebirth, eternal life and regard. But the one I want you to focus on is the daffodil meaning 'new beginnings.'**

**Burgundy roses: ****Unconscious beauty**  


**Yellow roses: ****Joy, gladness, friendship, delight, _the promise of a new beginning_**  


**Forget-me-nots: Remembrance, true love**

**AND LASTLY, because I forgot to add it in the last chapter...**

**Poppies in general: Eternal sleep, remembrance, dreams, imagination, oblivion**

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**Imagine the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life showing you dish sized puppy eyes saying "Review pleeasseee?" XD**


	7. Chapter 6: Something Smith

**Hello there readers! Have you waited long? Because I haven't been keeping track of the days. Haha. If you guys get bored of waiting for the next chapter and such, please consider visiting my lovely, oh so charming blog. Yes BLOG! AHAHAHA. I know. **

**My blog is located at: iskyebird/blogspot/com ((replace the / with periods))**

**Can I even advertise this here? Oh well. Anyways the point of that is if you guys get tired of waiting weeks on end for an chapter update, chances are, I'm wasting time on my blog because I like to procrastinate and talk about the boring things in my life. I just barely started it a few days/weeks ago, but you all are welcomed to come and read about my overly dramatized life filled with witty musings and lame jokes. **

**Feel free to comment and scold me back to work there as well. It'd help as a good reminder for me to get back to writing for this fanfiction when I get lazy. Plus you might happen to find the inspiration behind some of the weird things that might happen in my fanfictions.**

**Thank you to _mimi, Dementer13909, Little Ai, and akagami hime chan_ for your reviews! I really appreciate them!**

**Akagami hime chan: Welcome back! :D Glad to know you've been keeping track. You're the lucky review that's spurred me on to write a bit faster haha.**

**Disclaimer: One Piece is Oda's country.  
**

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Peter Willis was a boy- no, a man- of little desire. All he ever wanted was a tad bit of freedom in his life before he was chained down to his cabbage farm future with a wife that was... what was her name again? Lena? Linda? ...It was something Smith. Perhaps he should have argued more for his future. Perhaps he should have decided to run away. One last adventure. Because really. Cabbages?

He shook his head as he walked up the cobbled lane that led to his fiancee's house. Unfortunately, today was the day that he would have a date with the woman he would have to wed in about a year. The clock was ticking away, seemingly faster. Faster than it had when he was fourteen years old and thought he had all the time in the world before he would get married. His mother had reminded him of the date. He'd clear forgotten about it. In fact, it had simply slipped his mind.

It was almost seven in the morning, and Peter hoped that the earlier he did this, the faster it would end. Why, he only had to take the girl out to ice cream or something right? It would be the first time in a long time that he had seen the 'Something' Smith. More than a few years. He hoped she wasn't a total bore.  
Just as Peter had rounded the corner of the lane to go up the short path that led to his fiancee's florist shop, the boy-man suddenly pulled to a stop. Then he ducked into a bunch of foliage and remained quiet and still. Really, his heart was beating rapidly and his eyes were darting in several directions that sort of portrayed his thoughts of 'Who? What? Where? Why? How?"

He was quite stealthy for a lanky young man. The boiler suit clad strangers didn't even see him jump into the bushes.

Peter gulped. Who were those men? What were they doing in front of the Smith's house?

He peered out again from the bushes, and swiftly ducked his head back in. He was an avid reader of the newspaper, often finding comfort and delight in the astonishing news of pirates and marines in the paper. Peter had known in an instant who those pirates were from the uniform they were all wearing. The Heart Pirates. The boiler suits were quite distinctive.

He bit his bottom lip in indecisiveness. It was early. His fiancee must still be in the house. Perhaps she was being held hostage! What if she was going to be killed? Peter willed his shaking legs to move up along the path under cover of the thick foliage. From a more closer vantage point, he spied on the pirates yawning in front of the house. Each were at ease in a laid back manner. He looked at the house, and did a back track.

His jaw gaped open. The famed polar bear of the Heart Pirates! Orange jumpsuit and all! They really had a real live polar bear! Could he really talk? Peter didn't want to find out for risk of capture. He gulped again. What were they doing here? What did they want? And, where was their captain?

Peter couldn't see any sign of the Smith girl in the house. He didn't know what to do. Should he dash in and be a knight in shining armor? Should he try and save the Smith girl before something happened?

He shook his head. How could he go up against pirates, unarmed or not? There was nothing he could do here.

But there was something else that didn't seem a bad option.

Peter Willis slowly backed away from the house. When he made it to the road, he instantly dashed down the path towards town. He couldn't do anything about it. But surely, the marines could help.

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No sooner had the pirate captain heard the soft groan, did he make his way towards the living room. Only he was met with a flurry of small activity where the old woman was nowhere to be seen and Shachi and Penguin were arguing with each other. They immediately noticed their captain's presence and lurched forward to explain what had happened.

"It wasn't my fault Captain!" Penguin said. "I was keeping an eye on the granny, but Shachi just had to brag about how high he could kick so I tried to show him a thing or two-"

"Shut up Penguin, you were the one bragging! Then you just had to trip on the rug and bring me down with you so I couldn't stop the old lady." Shachi accused, aiming a low kick at Penguin who dodged aside before the kick could trip him. The move was meant to annoy more than harm actually.

"Don't blame it on me just because I proved I could kick higher." Penguin argued back, aiming his own half-assed kick at the casquette man.

Law sighed at his men's usual bickering, feeling a tad bit of his patience ebbing away. Although he was usually a man of great patience, he felt as if it was already due time he acquired the herbs for his medicine.

"Where is she?" He asked tiredly. It really was too early in the morning for him. He usually woke up later in the day, but today he didn't want to risk missing the owner of the shop again and possibly have to search the town a second time.

The two men stopped bickering, sensing their captain's weary patience.

"Er- sorry." Shachi said nervously and proceeded to explain. "The old coot suddenly just upped and left Captain. I think she hit herself on the head when she fainted."

Penguin nodded apologetically. "It looks like she went out into the garden. The others would have stopped her if she left for town anyways."

Law nodded and walked towards the garden with the other two close behind him, who occasionally aimed punches at each other and muttered things like "It's your fault" and "No, it's yours!"

The pirate captain pulled to a stop at the back door and his gray eyes settled on a crouched figure furiously planting daffodils in the garden. He quirked an eyebrow, just a millimeter, in surprise. He thought the madam would have tried to make a dash for it on her wobbly legs. Surely she would have been terrified of the polar bear she'd seen, but here she was planting flowers in the garden as if her life was on the line. Truly, how mysterious.

Law waited patiently for the old woman to finish planting her flowers and was content on observing the individual. She was dressed in a gray, button up, ankle-length dress and wore a small white apron over. Her silver hair was pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. If anything, she was a textbook grandmother. Perhaps on a good day she would have insisted on serving oatmeal cookies. However Law felt something was off about this lady. She looked like any other old woman off the streets. No hint of power, not a wince of threatening aura, harmless. She was no danger to them, obviously. A civilian, and yet there was something about her. She looked... he couldn't put a finger on it, yet.

At this time, the woman had sat back and cracked the joints in her shoulder and neck and sighed in relief. It seemed she hadn't even noticed them watching her. Law decided to make his presence known then.

"Are you done there, Madam?" He asked, a slight hint of amusement in his voice. The woman stiffened, and turned her head instantly to look at them in alarm, her gray blue eyes wide in surprise. She really hadn't noticed them.

Such a lack of caution, Law noted. It seemed she had frozen in her surprise, but now she was regarding him with weariness. Sizing him up, like he was at her. He crossed his arms and smiled lazily. That seemed to warrant a reaction out of her. Her eyes twitched, just a bit, and then she had her eyes on the symbol on his hoodie. It seemed she knew who he was now.

However she made no move to run, no move to escape. Why? Surely she would have tried in the very least. Law made no notion of showing his puzzlement, staring down at the crouched woman with indecipherable eyes.

Then the woman narrowed her eyes at him, her dull gray-blue eyes sparkling sharply. Law raised his eyebrows the short fraction of a centimeter in amusement. Was she going to challenge him? How fascinating.

She rose from her position on the ground and faced him directly. The look on her face showed she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"_Pirate_. What manner of business do you have here in my home?"

Law's smile seemed to grow a centimeter. "Is that how you treat a customer? I'm disappointed Madam, surely a woman of your age would have a tad more manners?"

Letha blinked in surprise. "A- A customer?" Then she frowned. "Why would a pirate be a customer? I would assume you'd simply take what you want and leave without paying a single beri!" She folded her arms, and if she had been in her youth, her pout would have looked more defiant instead of pleading.

"I assure you, if your stock satisfies me I would pay in full. Now, if you would?" He stepped aside and gestured for her to enter the house. "I would like to acquire herbs for medicine."

She hesitated, but brushed past him, glaring suspiciously at his smiling face and then frowning at Shachi and Penguin who had been keeping quiet while watching the scene unfold. However that seemed over with and now they couldn't stand watch as this old coot showed their captain such disrespect.

"Hey, lady!" Penguin said with as much threat he could muster against the feeble old woman, without feeling guilty, "it'd do you good if you treated our esteemed captain with more respect and manners."

"Wouldn't want something to happen to your precious garden, now would yah?" Shachi added lowly.

However the old woman hadn't apologized or shown an ounce of fear as they thought she would.

Instead, "Keep quiet you lackeys. Kids your age shouldn't be playing pirate."

They blinked in shock, and then "Why you..." they began, but Law stopped them.

"If you would show me your gardens now Madam..." He said politely.

The lady huffed, but led the way out the living room, into the parlor, and then towards the basement. However she stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back at Law and the two grumbling pirates that felt as if their pride were slightly diminished.

"Do you have any specific herbs you want, pirate?" she added the last word contemptuously.

Law deliberated, "No, but I know what I'd want if you'd show me the herbs."

She kept her perpetual frown that made her look a tad older. "I'm afraid that's against store policy. No customers in the gardens." She said.

However Law was determined to get into that basement. He was sure that whatever it was that made this flower shop so strange, it was behind that door. He could smell the scent of herbs coming from the basement. He was positive that the rest of Smithy's Florist gardens were in there, though he wondered how that worked out and he wanted to know.

He wanted to know, and nothing could stop him from satisfying his curiosity.

"Madam, I don't think you quite understand your position." He said coolly. He took an intimidating step closer to Letha and she took a step down the stairs, her eyes showing a flick of fear. He smiled. Finally. The look he had expected at long last. He took another step forward, and she took another step back. He leaned against the wall of the stairs, arms folded. "I may be a customer, but I'm also a pirate. And you know what pirates do don't you?" He bared his teeth in a grin.

Letha gulped. "I-I can't. Mother wi- I mean, store regulations-"

Law tilted his head at the comment, but brushed it off and continued, taking another step down the stairs, and another. "A pirate- Madam- wreaks havoc in towns. A pirate, destroys things. A pirate..."

"Steals treasure!" Shachi added helpfully.

"And kills people!" Penguin pipped up cheerfully.

Law cast a smirk at his two crewmates and turned back to Letha, but his smirk was gone, leaving a dead cold stare directed at Letha. "And we could do the same to you." He took another threatening step down the stairs, and another, and another. They were already at the bottom now, and Letha was backed up against the basement door, her eyes wide in terror.

"We are pirates, Madam. And it would be an easy matter to kill you and take all the goods we want. So before you decide to continue resisting, please consider that we are trying, with much effort, to be courteous to our host right now."

Letha bit her trembling lip. Her hand closed down on the basement knob. "I-I understand." She spat out in terror, and only known to herself, shame. Once again. Again, she had been forced into coercion, by bloody pirates. This pirate didn't even need to order her. "T-This way, if you would." She opened the basement door, biting back her tears. She was weak. So, so very weak.

Law flashed her a predator's grin, and walked past her into the basement with a triumphant Shachi and Penguin following behind.

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Peter Willis huffed tiredly, his hands on his knees, bent over in exhaustion. He had run the entire way down the hill and towards town, stopping in front of a restaurant styled like a cafe. He wobbled over to one of the outdoor umbrella-ed tables and took a much appreciated seat to catch his breath. He swiped his head to the side, staring blankly through the windows of the restaurant, and realized this was the workplace of his secret crush.

The Smith girl momentarily forgotten, Peter Willis crouched near the window and peeked into the restaurant hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and raked his hand through his brown hair. He craned his neck left and right for the waitress, but couldn't find her. He sighed, and slid down to sit on the floor.

He wondered where his beloved had gone and then he remembered he needed to get help. He stood suddenly.

The Smith girl!

But he faltered. The girl he was supposed to marry. That- er...something Smith. He sighed. He really didn't want to marry her. He cast a longing look at the restaurant window. Wishing it could have been his secret crush instead. He sighed, head cast down muttering something about fate and blah. However, Peter Willis suddenly had a wicked idea.

It was horrible. It was terrible. It was downright evil. It was an idea a cabbage boy shouldn't have had. Peter Willis had an idea... He paced in front of the eatery, deep in thought.

"I-I could just let them take her. The pirates. I mean, what do I even owe her? She's just a stranger to me. If they take her, I wouldn't have to marry her. I could- I could marry my true love. No- but that's wrong. She's just an innocent girl. I can't do that to her... but then again..." Peter slumped into a chair in frustration, an angel and a devil fighting on his shoulders. He groaned into his hands.

"Boy! What are you doing off in lala land in front of my restaurant!" A big woman chided with her hands on her waist. Then, "Hey... aren't you Peter Willis? Come in boy, come in!" She didn't leave the boy any room to protest, and all he could do was say weakly "I'm not a boy, I'm a man!"

Inside the restaurant, said boy was whipping his head back and forth looking for the waitress he loved at first sight. The owner, Wisteria, raised her brow at his behavior and asked him what the hell he was doing. To which he replied "Um, where is that lovely waitress that was here for the past few days? The one with pretty dark brown hair, and the loveliest eyes-"

Wisteria blinked. "You mean Letha? My niece?"

Peter sighed with a smile on his face. "Is that her name? Letha... Such a beautiful name."

Auntie Wisteria had dropped her jaw at the idiocy of the boy. He didn't even know the name of his own fiancee? Poor, poor Letha. She slapped her palm against her face, and shook her head. "Letha was only working part time. She left me a note and said she'd be back to visit today, but she hasn't come yet. I assume she's tending to her gardens or something up the hill."

Peter smiled goofily at some far off thing in his imagination, but snapped out of it when he heard gardens and hill. "Wait, what? She's working in the gardens up the hill? Where the Smithy's Florist is?" His eyes widened and he was pacing back and forth again.

Wisteria was not amused. "Well, yeah. Letha is the owner of Smithy's Florist after all."

"Huh?!" Peter Willis was suddenly frozen in shock. "T-T-There are pirates up there..." He whispered, and then... Lena, Linda, Something Smith. Letha Smith. Holy shit. "Call the marines! My fiancee's in trouble!"

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**There you go, another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, tell me whether or not I did a good job with Law! It'd help me understand whether I'm doing good or not. So review please! Pretty please with a cherry on top!**

**No symbolism today! Unless you count cabbages, which means luck. Huh. **


	8. Chapter 7: The Secret Garden

**This was a hard chapter for me to write. I had so many things planned for this chapter but couldn't get through most of them without making you guys wait foreverrr. Which we all don't want. Thank you so much to these freaking awesome reviewers: the everchanging, UNICORNSPOORAINBOWS, Little Ai, mimi, Emz, Shima Namida, Laboons-BellyButton, Guest, Chuu112, YingYang21! :D**

**UNICORNSPOORAINBOWS: I like your name. I luuurrrveeee unicorns. And rainbows. And sparkles and stars and steak and, and. Okay I'll stop.**

**mimi: I wanna know Letha's secrets too! Good thing Detective Law is on his way! Thank you for your review :)**

**Shima Namida: Haha, Penguin and Shachi will get more screen time for sure! Courteous but demanding, I couldn't have put it better myself. It made perfect sense. I didn't even intend to have Peter in the story, but now I've got big plans for this little boy. Thanks for the encouragement!**

******Laboons-BellyButton: LOL Law's Yellow Submarine story, I would soooo change the story's name to that but I feel people would get confused. Haha love it. Thanks for the symbolism! I actually only put in flower meanings I thought were relevant, since there are just so many meanings to list for every plant. I'll keep your suggestion in mind! Thanks :D**

******Guest: I appreciate your thoughts! :D I think Letha is a pretty name too, shame about the meaning. I was hoping to make Law non-OOC, I can't say I'm entirely confident I'll do a good job throughout the story.********I'm merely making an interpretation of what I think Law would or wouldn't do.** So please help me along the way if I go astray!

**YingYang21: Thanks for snapping me out of my indecision so I can post this chapter up. Needless to say I slapped myself out of a pouty fit. **

**Disclaimer: The world of One Piece was created by Oda.**

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Living life on the Grand Line meant that it was perfectly normal to have the occasional encounter with pirates. More so now, however, ever since Gol D. Roger thrust the lure of the ultimate treasure into the faces of several would be pirates two decades ago. This was the Great Age of Piracy, and those on the Grand Line can only hope the pirates they met were friendly.

Letha knew she had to be weary of pirates. However in her frustration of recent events, she had somehow plucked up the courage to show these Heart Pirates, and their evil captain, a mix of defiance and bad manners. How _dare_ they think she'd let them walk all over her, like she was some kind of doormat that welcomed people like them into her house! No! She wanted to be a doormat that said 'Not Welcomed! Not at all!"

Actually- she'd rather not be a doormat in any situation.

But Letha had never been personally threatened by a pirate before, especially by a pirate like Trafalgar Law, and her bravery could only go so far. These men were cold blooded killers. Murderers. They have taken the life of somebody before, and that was nothing to ignore. The guts she had to glare at these pirates, she realized, could easily be torn from her body by said pirate. She did not want to be added to their list of victims.

So it was with much terror, and shame, that she had opened that door and let these pirates go down the next long flight of stone stairs into the basement. It was with much frustration that she followed after them, quiet and trembling.

Shouldn't she be the one leading? It was her house after all.

But she was weak, so she said nothing- and she hated herself for it. The independent owner of a florist shop. Twenty years of age. About to be married. Cowering because of a pirate doctor. Then she remembered she was supposed to be ninety or something and now she was awfully deflated because she had no idea what she was going to do about _that._

The resounding echo of their footsteps on stone steps made Letha suddenly realize with horror that she was trapped in a long stairway with pirates. She was all alone and they could easily make do with the threat they gave her a couple minutes ago. Nevermind that she as an elderly woman, these were pirates. What qualms would they have in killing an old woman?

Suddenly Letha was shivering again, and it wasn't because of the passage's chilly air. They climbed down the stairs silently, not a word passed between the group as Letha's mind flew from thought to thought.

What am I going to do about my- my condition? What will mother think about it? How will I get back to normal before the wedding? How am I going to get these pirates out of my house? What would mother say or do in this situation? She'd be so upset with me when she found out I let pirates into the gardens- if she found out that is...

Letha let out a shaky breath, so many questions, too few answers. However Letha resolved to give these pirates want they wanted quickly so she could kick 'em out all the faster. Then she could get back to worrying about her other situation and what she was going to do about it.

Letha just wanted things to be _normal_ again.

They had reached the bottom of the stairwell now and automatically Letha had hit the switch that lighted up the room on the other side of the thick oak doorway. Worrying in her thoughts, Letha had not noticed when the pirates had stopped. She collided with the solid wall that was Trafalgar Law.

"Whuh- oh. Sorry, um. Pirate...sir." She added the last bit with much effort. He made no answer.

Letha rubbed her head and noticed how tall the pirate was. Either that or she had shrunk when she was transformed into an old lady. She cast a curious look at the still pirates. The two she had called lackeys were frozen stiff with their jaws and eyes wide open in shock. Trafalgar Law, however, did not have a reaction at all. Unbeknownst to her, his eyes had widened not one millimeter... but two! Yes. Law was in awe.

"This... is your garden?" He asked her, still looking past the wide glass pane that separated the white tiled room they were in with the masses of green on the other side.

Letha whipped her head to look at what had them so transfixed in sudden worry. Was there something wrong with the gardens?

She quickly moved over to a set of controls on one end of the small glass room and switched on the multiple monitors that surveyed the area. Light fixtures turned on one by one down the long facility on the other side of the glass wall in bright booms, making what Law and his crewmates were seeing all the more...well, more.

Large fans spun in the ceiling on the other side.

_Ventilation, check._

Letha automatically set the controls to daylight time, and set a blue switch on.

_Artificial sun, check. Watering system, check._

She glanced at the monitors again. Nothing seemed to be out of order. She typed in several long phrases into the keyboard and set the time and schedule for the water system to initiate in the different sections of the wide facility.

Behind her Penguin and Shachi had their faces and hands pressed against the glass panes of the control room with their mouths open, fogging up the glass and blocking a small portion of their view of the colorful garden of flowers surrounding the glass room. However it didn't cover the view of the forest line of fir trees and barberry bushes a distance away.

"This ain't a garden lady- it's a whole freaking greenhouse! A freaking _huge_ greenhouse!" Shachi exclaimed. When a picture of a garden sprung into Shachi's mind, he had imagined something little. Something more tame and- did he mention _little?_

Penguin just opted to stare, and stare some more. He had expected a basement only a tad larger than the perimeter of the house above them. Instead, it was as if the Moby Dick could fit in there. The expanse of the room was no laughing matter. A person could get lost in that place the old lady called a garden.

Boy was this lady's definition of a garden wrong.

Letha had just finished typing in the last commands. She watched the monitor screens for a moment. One screen started to have a small drizzle of rain watering down on a whole section of orchards. The other screens remained the same, in which there were video feeds on places in the underground garden warehouse such as a small mossy swamp, a lotus filled pond with an overlooking wooden bridge, a dark and dense jungle, and a couple of other small biomes.

Close beside Letha, Law was analyzing the monitors with interest, a wide curve on his lips. This was far more than he had expected. He was pleasantly surprised, and he would admit, shocked. Not a garden, but a greenhouse. A fully operational wide scale facility for plants. From what he had seen on the monitors, it contained plants of all shapes and sizes, not just flowers. Almost every plant he could think of, and many he could not recognize. All underneath the hill of Smithy's Florist. It was something no passerby could have expected. A sudden, and deep rumble came from Law then. He let out a low snicker that gradually turned into a chuckle, and then a full out laugh.

It brought the attention of his two crew who smiled at anything that made their captain so amused to laugh out loud. It startled Letha terribly, who accidentally pulled the sunlight lever to scorching desert sun in a section of plants that'd die from the exposure. She quickly pushed the lever back to cool sunlight for that section and she turned to stare at Law with wide, unsure eyes. She failed to see the hilarity in the situation. Letha watched him from the corner of her eyes wearily for a couple seconds more, before turning her attention back to the monitors and control panel.

Law's delighted laughter died down. He ran a hand over his short dark hair, making it more disheveled, before setting his furry white hat back on his head.

And now he's realized what had bothered him when he had first sighted upon Smithy's Florist. He knew now what it was that was so strange about it. Smithy's Florist was so very normal, on the surface. So utterly... forgettable. The shop was like any other one he had seen on the island with its dark oak walls, gray shingled rooftop, and single stone chimney. It was like many of the other dwellings that doubled as a home and store on the island, and even on some other islands Law and his crew had chanced upon. No person could have imagined the extent of what was underneath the humble abode. It was like every other shop in which it screamed "Normal! Forgettable! Nothing to see here!"

Except here, there was an inconsistency. When Law had inquired around the town for a place that sold herbs, the townsfolk had all pointed towards the flower shop up the hill. One had even said "Every plant you could possibly want is up there. Nevermind the flowers." Which was strange since all Law had seen was the small garden full of flowers. It was enough to make him suspicious.

"I would assume this is the control room?" Law asked the busy woman pressing buttons and pulling levers.

Letha jumped. "Ye-yes," she croaked in response to Law's question, "This glass room is the control room. It separates us from the gardens and allows me to operate the facility without having to step out of the room, unless I need to harvest plants for customers. In which case..."

Letha stepped aside and pulled on a white lab coat and sturdy leather gloves. She kicked off the slippers she had on and pulled on a pair of leather boots. Lastly, she put on lab goggles over her eyes and a pale blue surgical mask over her mouth.

An inconspicuous smile appeared over Law's lips as he watched the small withered woman adjust her goggles. The small garden had sprouted his suspicions, but it was the woman that made him all the more curious. And now Law knew what it was about this old woman he couldn't place. She wasn't the slightest memorable, just like her shop. So very average, without a second glance, but placed in this absurd setting it was a different matter entirely. It was almost scary.

Law gave Letha a conspicuous eyebrow raised look concerning her new gear that Letha interpreted correctly. Through the mask she wore came a muffled "Just in case," which left Law to wonder fleetingly what warranted 'Just in case.' Letha unhooked one side of her mask to let it dangle from an ear.

In whole, Law thought she looked like a withered and old, deranged mad scientist. But Law did have a soft spot for mad people. He was a mad doctor after all. He watched her proceed with new interest and decided to invest his time into uncovering her secrets.

The old woman made everything off to be perfectly normal. Watching her move around the control room, it seemed as if she had done this her whole life, and hadn't a concept of what was considered normal by standards. The fact of the matter was, Law concluded, this woman was the source this place's peculiarity.

"Pirate. What type of medicine do you intend to make?" Letha asked him resignedly. Her skittishness subsiding with her resignation. She figured since they were already here, and she might as well hurry in getting them what they wanted. "We have plenty of medicinal plants like chamomile for colds and red poppies if you wish to make morphine- or opium, if you like that stuff." She said dryly. She doubted he did though, he was too acutely aware for drugs. "Poppies are also great in tea," and she gave him a pointed look "...for insomnia." Letha didn't miss the shadows under his eyes.

He stared at her, the corners of his lips tilting slightly. "Worry for a pirate? How very kind of you madam."

Letha frowned. "I assure you, I am not kind. Not to pirates. Now, please tell me what medicinal plants you need." She didn't like the look he was giving her. It was like his eyes were boring into hers, trying to find all her secrets, but she only had one, and that one she intended to keep with her until she turned into fertilizer. She resisted the urge to look away, not wanting to look weak.

Letha hoped he wasn't thinking about killing her. It'd be just the thing to have her pathetic life end in the basement of her home. Just in case, she took a small step back and hoped he didn't notice. She tried to make it look natural by adjusting her boots. It was also an excuse to lose eye contact.

Unfortunately, Law noticed her little tactic. Dark amusement flickered in his eyes, though Letha did not seen it.

"It suddenly struck me that I don't even know the name of our host. You know mine, though you've been calling me 'Pirate' for a while. Surely a _kind_ woman such as yourself has more manners than this? ...I am your customer, after all." He took a sly step forward, like a cat intimidating a gray little mouse. "You injure me," he said in a serious tone, bringing a hand up to his heart.

Letha swallowed and took an involuntary step back, weary of the distance between them. However she set her expression. Letha refused to be made a fool of.

"A customer- but also a pirate. As you have recently reminded me. And I am _not_ kind." She replied in a squeak, yet she took a small step forward, redeeming a portion of her pride and earning her an imperceptible smirk from the pirate captain. Defiant blue-gray eyes covered by goggles glared up into cool gray ones shadowed under a furry hat. Unreadable, yet surely mocking.

"I didn't think pirates like you had any manners or feelings to care of what other's thought of you anyways."

"...Pirates like me?" Law raised a brow and shrugged slightly, slowly walking around her once, in a lazy drawl. Letha whipped her head left and right, unwilling to let him out of her sight. Penguin and Shachi were in front of the monitors, paying barely a beri of attention to them. They knew their captain had control.

"You would be surprised," Law said. "Pirates care enough about what others think of them in order to receive their bounties. What we do, and how we do it, we always have our enemies, and you civilians, in mind." He stopped in front of her and leaned forward with a wide smile on his face. She refused to budge, standing stock still and glaring straight ahead pass the glass panels in an attempt to keep from shaking.

He whispered in her ear, "Pirates are all about sending a message."

Letha couldn't stop the shiver that was sent down her spine. She pushed him back with her wrinkled hands. Law merely took a step back as a result of the weak shove. He placed his hands in his pockets and stared at her with increasing amusement that Letha could finally see.

He was just _playing_ with her. The polite bastard. He could have just forced her to do whatever he wanted, he could have just made due on his threat and take what he desired, but_ no._ Letha realized this was the kind of man Trafalgar Law was. He was like a sly cat that preferred to play with his food, taking his sweet time to enjoy the entertainment before- before whatever came next. He was the type to get what he wanted, too.

"What is it you want from me?" She angrily yelled at him, so very frustrated and tired- and it was still early in the morning. What holy entity did she piss off to deserve this? This- this teasing, and these _pirates._ Letha didn't hate pirates- fear, yes. Hate? No. Not until now. She wondered if there was a queue of more pirates just waiting to make a mess of her life.

Law gave her another polite (clearly sadistic) smile and stated simply "Just herbs, and an answer to my questions."

"Fine!" Letha snarled, and thought now was the time to get these pirates their plants and throw them out of her life.

While Law deliberated, she reached into her lab pockets and practically threw a cough mask towards Law who caught it with a hand, took rushed steps towards the other two pirates to give them theirs (both of which asked whether they'd get goggles too), and proceeded to quickly usher them out the glass door separating them from the green facility on the other side. One could barely make Bepo depressed in the time she took to shove those pirates out the control room. Almost instantly the group was hit with a fresh wave of a floral and woody aroma. If they strained their ears, they could hear the sound of pitter-pattering and rushing water further inside the extensive facility. Yet the spinning of the large fans framed in the lighted ceiling above them overpowered the sound of water.

Already Letha was speed walking down the path between the flower garden, passing by a gathering of orange lilies.

She intended to get their plants quickly, at least that was what she hoped, until Law grabbed her arm to stop her in her tracks.

Shachi and Penguin were jogging to catch up while trying to look everywhere at once in the large flower garden they were in.

"There's no need to rush madam. You said you'll answer my questions, and I have one for you now." Letha gave him the meanest glare she had ever given anyone in her simple life. The effect was just a more scrunched up version of her creased face. "It's a simple question really," he chuckled lowly, which sounded quite devious to Letha. She knew there was no way out of this, and like all other things she knew she could not prevent happen to her... Letha sighed heavily. She jerked her arm away from him and settled into a normal walking pace, gesturing for him to continue as they passed a flowering bush of yellow forsythia.

Law kept a leisurely pace next to her and asked her his first question.

"Who are you?"

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

"...Bula bula bula bula. Bula bula bula bula. Bula bula bula bula..."

"..."

"Bula bula bula bula. Bula bula bula bula. Bu-"

A boot clad foot slammed onto the desk, scaring the blue den den mushi into hiding inside his yellow spotted green shell.

"Shut up!" Snapped the shiny black afro-haired man reclining in his chair. His hair looked like a waxed bowling ball. He dragged a hand down his tired looking face. He rubbed his jaw line and yawned, scratching his chin, which had the word 'MARINE' tattooed across it.

A woman standing near him sighed. She chided, "Berry Good, you can't just tell a den den mushi to shut up. It'll just-"

The blue den den mushi slowly peeked his head out of his shell, "...Bula bula bula bula. Bula bula bula bula..."

The ensign stacking papers frowned. "See? You should pick it up. What if it's important?"

The captain gave the girl a tired glare. "How many times do I have to tell you ensign? That's Captain Very Good* to you. Sheesh, no respect." He yawned again. "It's probably some civilian claiming no-name pirates are stealing his cabbages. Again." He rolled his eyes, but the burly man reached over for the den den mushi anyways. "Not a single note worthy pirate lately," he said, but he wasn't complaining. A nap sounded good at the moment.

"Bula bula bula bula. Bula bula- Gachak!"

Captain Very Good growled into the receiver, "What?" He reclined back into his chair and set his feet back onto the wooden desk. His ensign tsked at his manners.

A shrill and desperate voice could be heard on the other end. Very Good frowned at the hysteric den den mushi.

"Right. I didn't hear a thing you said. Calm down and tell me again."

The den den mushi took a second to relax a tiny notch.

"My fiancee! She's- She's- My fiancee!"

"Okay. Your fiancee... kudos to you kid." Very Good nodded. Then, "What makes you think I care about your fiancee?" He shouted angrily into the receiver, spittle flying out to rain on the twitching den den mushi.

Then the voice on the other end sounded dreamy. The blue snail imitated a stupid grin.

"She's sooo pretty."

"What? She's pretty?" The ensign half expected him to slam the receiver down, but instead "...How pretty?" Very Good asked seriously.

She dropped her jaw. How she wished she was placed on Captain Hina's ship instead. This idiot... and he wonders why she didn't respect him as much.

"Really pretty."

"I see, I see. You're one lucky kid eh? Wish I had me a girl..."

The voice on the other end grew frantic then. "But pirates! T-There are pirates... and a bear... and, and-" He yelped in pain. A sound of shuffling and huffing could be heard, then an exasperated sigh. The blue snail's dreamy demeanor changed into one of annoyance.

"-Good lord, boy. Man up! Sir, my niece is being held hostage by pirates. The boy-" a cry in the background claims he's a man "-says it's the Heart Pirates. Please come quickly to Primavera Island! My sister will kill me if something happens to her!"

Very Good slowly sat up from his lazy position. "The Heart Pirates?" His expression grew serious. "We'll be there shortly."

"Gachak!" He slammed the receiver down, and the blue den den mushi retreated back into his yellow spotted shell for sleep.

He grinned at the ensign, "We've got a big fish. Tell the navigator, full speed ahead towards Primavera Island, I want to be there in an hour!"

* * *

**Boy, Law doesn't let up. That sexy jerk. Ohh lucky, lucky Letha. Hahaha. XD**

**Lotus- Life, new beginnings and the possibility of people growing to change into something beautiful  
**

**Fir- Evaluation, time**

**Barberry- Hot temperament**

**Chamomile- Energy in adversity**

**Forsythia- Anticipation**

**Orange Lilies- Disdain, hatred, pride**

***Captain Very Good is actually a real character in the world of One Piece, he only appeared in a short time during the Enie's Lobby Arc. I decided he needed some more love. **

* * *

**Once again, please review and tell me how I'm doing, what you think, or what character's you guys would like to see appear in the story! Bepo hugs for everyone! :D**


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